In a thinly-veiled swipe at stars such as Rihanna and Miley Cyrus, TLC singer Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas has slammed contemporary female pop singers for appearing in public semi-naked and posting revealing photos on social media, branding them "followers" who are failing to take music forward.

"You know what Madonna did [first] ... but right now its like a domino effect, everybody seems to be doing that because it gets so much attention," Thomas says.

TLC, one of the biggest-selling girl groups in music history, were famous for their female empowerment anthems and begin their first ever Australian tour on Friday in Sydney. The band sold 65 million records in the 1990s and early 2000s but their career slowed after one of the trio, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes died in a car crash in 2002.

In the groove: Chilli and T-Boz last year. Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

"People are usually followers, it’s rare that you have leaders who switch the game up and do something totally different," Thomas said.

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"So you have all these followers, all of them doing the same thing as a result … posting half-naked pictures of themselves on Twitter and Instagram - it’s just crazy, almost like you are dying for attention."

This week Rihanna appeared semi-naked in a perfume ad advertisement, and also walked the red carpet in a see-through dress at the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards. In late April she posted topless photos of herself, shot for Lui magazine, on her Twitter account.

"We didn't do those things ... and the attention you get when you do that is not the kind of attention I would ever want."

So what will make the "stripper pop" phenomenon stop?

"I think it will take more artists not doing it, it's as simple as that," Thomas says. "At the end of the day the music speaks for itself, you don’t have to take your clothes off if your music is great and you have a great image to support that it’s definitely a win:win.

"It’s crazy to think that to have someone keep their clothes on would be refreshing."

Thomas also says the pressure to perform half-naked is a big reason there aren't more girl groups.

"It's easier for by bands. You find one or two guys that can really sing and if they are cute and have a six pack they've got [thousands of] fans. It's different for women, most of us don't want to show off our bodies all the time."

TLC play in Brisbane at Eaton's Hill Hotel on Saturday June 7; at Sydney's Enmore Theatre on Monday June 9; in Melbourne at the Palais on Wednesday June 11 and in Perth at Metro City on Friday June 13.